National News

Despite gun-control push, more states have cut back on gun regulations since Newtown

Despite a major push from the White House, more states have cut back on gun regulations rather than pass gun-control reforms in the wake of the mass shootings in Newtown, Conn., The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

Five states—New York, Colorado, Mississippi, Utah and Wyoming—have enacted seven new laws tightening restrictions on guns since Dec. 14, when a gunman shot 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School before turning the weapon on himself. A sixth state, Connecticut, passed the toughest gun laws in the nation this week, banning some types of semi-automatic weapons and requiring all gun buyers to undergo background checks before purchases. (Gov. Dan Malloy is expected to sign the bill into law on Thursday.)

Meanwhile, legislators in 10 states pushed through 17 new laws that broaden gun rights. One such law, in Arkansas, allows staff and faculty to carry concealed weapons on university campuses. Utah lawmakers, meanwhile, passed a law to allow people prohibited from buying weapons for mental health reasons to petition the state to be able to purchase a gun.